Ferry Boats & Chocolate

So yesterday I started my long journey home from my last outing with youth. Let me just start by saying I barely want to write this because I am going to get a wrath of "I told you so" messages, but chalk it up to honesty. So yesterday morning I was in Duncan, B.C. and decided that it was time for me to head home. Nothing was really happening in the baby department, but I just felt the urge to be home. So I headed down to Victoria to catch the ferry after calling them 6 times to see what the chances of getting on were. The first sailing at 10:30 was a no go, so I parked my car (1st in line) and walked around Victoria for an hour or so and then got back into the car. You have to stay in your car due to some customs rule. The next sailing was at 3:00...fast forward to 2:30...I have made friends with all of the ferry guys and I am sure that I am going to get on the next ferry. Then I watch semi truck after RV after semi truck get loaded on the ferry. Still optimistic, but a little worried I start eating the chocolate bars I had purchased as gifts (why not right?). 3:00 ferry pulls away from dock, Molly still in car on dock, 2 chocolate bars down the tears start to fall.

Side note: I am not a movie star crier...I am a snotty nose, red face, can barely breathe or talk crier.

The young ferry guy comes over and I don't want to roll the window down (for obvious reasons) and he genuinely looks like he might die when he sees me. I am a mess! He is trying so hard to be nice and all I can get out of my mouth is "I am 91/2 months pregnant and I just want to go home." He calming is trying to figure out where I am from (true: I can't verbalize where I live) via hand signals and guessing. He then suggests that I drive to Sidney B.C. to catch the ferry to Vancouver B.C. that in all honesty it is my best chance of making home. So I heading for Sidney, took the ferry to Vancouver drove to Tacoma last night and stayed with my family, then drove the rest of the way this morning. There is also a bad gas station story and me finally getting to work and realizing I left my car keys at home in McMinnville. A fantastic trip home.

I really wish I had pictures of myself for comic relief.

37 weeks

This is my view of the bump!

I am feeling great in my 37th week of being preggo. I was kind of expecting to feel totally miserable, but things are going well. My doctor appointments are every Friday now, and last Friday she said that things look good and that she thought things would start happening right around my due date, probably not earlier. Which is really okay because I have a lot to get done between now and then. Last week when I had the ultrasound, the tech said that it looked like baby had hair! Sweet.

5 Years!!

5 years ago today Ty and I were married! We have had a crazy 5 years filled with football, living in several cities and another country, a few different jobs, buying our first home, and getting ready to have a baby. There are many other things in between those big items, but those are the major events. Last night we headed out to dinner to celebrate and we ended up talking about the "highlights" of our last five years. Here is what we came up with:

1. Traveling in Europe together, specifically just the two of us trekking across Italy for a week.

2. The night that I told Ty we were having a baby.

3. Moving to Bellingham with absolutely no plan of what we were going to do.

4. Our honeymoon!

5. Ty's sister Erin's wedding week (we had an absolute blast!)

6. Walking in Ty & Jenna's wedding together.

7. Any vacation we have taken...we decided that we are both alot more fun on vacation, and we both love to travel.

Celebrating Sweet Pea

My friends Jenna & Lyn threw me a wonderful shower last Friday night. It was so much fun and filled with my friends and family from near and far. People were so amazingly generous...it was really overwhelming. Above are a few pics. It was also Baby Brad's first big outing with "real" clothes.

Update

Sorry for the lack of posting over the last few days. I just returned from a 4 day trip to the San Juan island for work. This week and next week is the annual Canoe Journey for the youth canoe club that I oversee. It is a really amazing journey that the youth take from north of Olympia to north of Victoria, B.C.. They paddle a traditional canoe for about 150 miles over 9 days and then spend a few days at the end sharing with other tribes and youth from around the northwest coast. Everybody thought I was crazy to go camping, but it was a blast. I am actually planning on heading back up for a few days this weekend. Being outside and near the water was so relaxing and the youth and others we are traveling with have been so good to me.

I will try to keep the blog updated and add a few pics tomorrow when I get to the office.

People have been asking what my official due date is....August 12th. We shall see. Absolutely no signs of baby yet, which is fine by me. I think sweet pea needs to grow a little bit before making his/her big entrance.

Fantastic Fridays!

I know that I have mentioned this a time or two before, but my new life of no work on Fridays is fab! I get to do all of the things I never have time to do during the week like laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, Dr appts, watching random shows that only I would love (mostly food network/travel channel), and even walking around Ross with nothing but time on my hands. I absolutely love that store. One it is the only "real" store in MacTown, two I always find something great, and three it is cheap. Today's finds were a new recycled aluminum water bottle, some work out shorts that fit, and a few pair of newborn pants for baby.

Ty & I also went to the doctor today. We always go first thing in the morning and get in right on time, not today...our appt was at 11:15 because we needed to see the Dr. not the midwife and they were running 25 minutes late. Ugg. At my appointments lately they have noticed that I am not growing enough, so today I measured pretty small and the Dr. decided to do an ultrasound. I was pretty nervous about it, but everything was fine. Baby is 5 lbs and 11 ounces according to the ultrasound! Pretty crazy to think that sweet pea will be fully cooked in just a few weeks. We both were really happy to see that baby was growing fine and looking good. And I know that you are wondering if we got a peek at the goods....no! We have waited this long it would have been like cheating.

4 Weeks Away

I suppose every expectant dad goes through this, but it clicked today that we are literally 4 weeks away from parenthood. [Insert word here for panic]. It started at work today, as I was sitting talking with a client. Through our conversation it came up that Moll and I are going to be parents, and when I told her that we were 36 weeks along, she nonchalantly said, "Wow. Any day now, huh?" My hands started sweating and my mouth went dry. It was the way she said it, as if it was expected that we were 100% ready, had the gas-tank full, first outfit picked out, hospital/diaper/emergency/extra-food-for-husband bag packed, and car seat installed. We don't even have the hospital bag.

After sticking my head between my knees, I relaxed and realized that when I was born, my parents were living in a trailer in The Dalles, Oregon, where I slept in a drawer. It happened to be that I had coffee with my friend, Clancy, this morning, and I think this was God's way of bringing me clarity. Clancy is the wisest man I know, and the topic of conversation this morning was Paul and the Galatians, and to put it relevantly, freedom from rules. I think when it comes to being ready for Baby, there are no rules. You're going to be as ready as you're going to be. (The hospital bag would help this.)

This is life on Birch Street. I hope life on your street finds you all well.